CHARLOTTE—Sitting at the podium for his postgame press conference, first-year Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap was clearly pleased with the NBA debut of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the No. 2 overall pick in this June’s draft who is a perfect fit for Dunlap’s preferred up-tempo, max-effort style of play.

In a game the Bobcats won by a single point, 90-89, against the Pacers, Kidd-Gilchrist was +12 for the night—meaning Charlotte outscored Indiana by 12 points while he was on the floor. In the first quarter alone, his tenacious interior defense forced Paul George to miss a 2-foot lay-up, his athletic, out-of-nowhere offensive rebound kept alive a possession that eventually ended with a Kemba Walker basket, and a pair of defensive rebounds ended scoring opportunities for the Pacers.

“I thought he had a really good game,” Dunlap said.

His teammates were impressed, too.

“He was good,” said Walker, the second-year point guard who poured in a career-high 30 points. “His numbers might not show it, but he really played well. He really pushed the basketball for us, really got the ball on the rim. He didn’t make them, but it gave our bigs the opportunity to offensive rebound and put the ball back in.”

Kidd-Gilchrist finished with seven rebounds, two blocked shots—one of those, a stuff of 7-foot-2 Pacers center Roy Hibbert a few feet from the basket, brought a rousing cheer from the crowd—an assist and just one turnover. He was just 1-for-7 from the field, though, and finished with two points.

The most satisfying thing for Kidd-Gilchrist and his Bobcats was the victory.

The Charlotte franchise is coming off the most inept season in NBA history—they lost their final 23 games of the season and finished a strike-shortened season with an anemic 7-59 record. So, yeah, the win was pretty key.

“The most important thing was to kill the elephant,” Dunlap said. “And the elephant was that losing streak, to get that off everybody’s back. For this entire organization, for the city, it’s just one of those marks you want to clean off the board.”

Even with as much as he contributed to the victory, Kidd-Gilchrist had to watch his teammates finish off the Pacers. He started the game and played 19 minutes, 37 seconds through the first three quarters, but was only a cheerleader in the fourth quarter.

This isn’t Kentucky. There, Kidd-Gilchrist was one of several uber-talented freshmen who were allowed to make big plays—or mistakes—in the key moments of every game. That philosophy was a big reason the Wildcats won the national championship this spring.

In the NBA, those fourth-quarter minutes go to battle-tested players, especially in a game that was pretty much a must-win considering the situation. Walker and Gerald Henderson, two starters, each played 8:54 of the fourth; veteran reserve Ramon Sessions played 9:26 and Ben Gordon played 5:40. Kidd-Gilchrist did not play at all in the fourth quarter.

Nobody doubts Kidd-Gilchrist will eventually earn lots of crunch-time minutes—in fact, Dunlap is absolutely counting on it—but that time isn’t here just yet.

“The one thing is, he’s a rookie,” Dunlap said. “He had a marvelous game, but I had to make the decision between experience and a young guy. I just think that, as he goes along, let’s say Gerald (Henderson) is in foul trouble, I’m putting Michael out there in an instant in the fourth quarter. It’s really about what could carry the day. It wasn’t about anything he did wrong or anything he can do better.”

The Bobcats won the game when D.J. Augustin, a former Bobcat, missed a 3-pointer from the corner with Walker rushing at him. The moment the buzzer sounded, Kidd-Gilchrist sprinted out onto the floor and gave Walker a big hug. “He just told me, ‘Way to play. Good game. Let’s get another one,’ ” Walker said with a smile.